1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical device, and more particularly, pertains to a Y-connector with a sealing gasket, guidewire clamp and a swivel luer for use in guidewire procedures, catheter procedures, or other related medical procedures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art Y-connectors have experienced problems of creating or maintaining adequate seals between a guidewire or catheter and the Y-connector, particularly the longitudinal chamber of the Y-connector to which a catheter or guidewire is inserted through. If an adequate seal is not maintained between the guidewire or the catheter, body fluids leak out which is not only impractical, but is also unsanitary.
Prior art gaskets and Y-connectors were usually a piece of tubing, such as silicon tubing, which did not provide a good gasket when compressed between the Y-connector and the guidewire or catheter. This caused not only body fluids to leak out, but also did not provide for easy sliding of the guidewire, and most dangerously, sometimes compressed the catheter so that the catheters were then unusable and had to be replaced. This was certainly impractical since replacement of a catheter would usually result in expenditures of a couple hundred dollars for replacement of the catheter because of the collapsing of the catheter by the ill-fitting or ill-compressed gasket.
Guidewires in prior art were often left unsecured in an unorderly fashion near the Touhy Borst adapter, sometimes allowing for longitudinal movement of a guidewire in the adapter or kinking or bending of the guidewire immediately adjacent to the Touhy Borst adapter.
Often it is desirable to rotate a catheter tube either before cavity insertion or subsequent to insertion where it is advantageous to rotate the catheter tube as it is slid into and further along into a vein, artery or other body member. This usually entails the process of rotating the y-adapter and catheter as a single unit or disconnecting the catheter from the y-adapter to accomplish catheter rotation by itself followed by reconnection of the y-adapter to the catheter.
It is also important to consider the operation of the side ports of the y-adapter with relationship to peripheral components attached thereto.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a Y-connector with a compression gasket which provides for even compression about a guidewire or catheter, and also provides for sliding of the guidewire or catheter. Also provided is a guidewire clamp for positive positioning of a guidewire with reference to the Y-connector. A swivel luer is also provided between the y-connector body and a catheter for rotational positioning of the y-connector with respect to the catheter.